Russia appears to be at a crossroads with the battle between market reformers and interventionists reaching fever pitch.
In this special Davos issue, we put the spotlight on Russia, with an exclusive interview with finance minister Alexei Kudrin, who The Banker has picked as its Finance Minister of the Year 2005. Mr Kudrin is candid with his thoughts on the Yukos affair, as well as banking and market reforms.
We also have interviews with leading Russian bankers, such as Andrei Kazmin, chairman of Sberbank, and Alexander Popov, chairman of Rosbank. What happens in Russia is crucial to the global situation and 2005 is likely to be a critical year.
The same can be said of Turkey, from which country we picked Süreyya Serdengeçti to be The Banker’s Central Banker of 2005. With the shape of Turkey’s likely EU membership becoming clearer, there will be a pressing need to keep the country’s economy running smoothly to improve its chances.
Argentina is another charged country that The Banker follows closely and our report this month concludes that, although the growth figures are good, a full recovery will be a long haul.
Elsewhere in this issue, we have interviews with Morgan Stanley’s CEO Phil Purcell in Karina’s Kolumn; with Merrill Lynch’s Japan boss Yoshiyuki Fujisawa in Agenda; and with Barclay’s CIO David Weymouth in Tech vision.
As we start a new year, it’s The Banker’s style to look ahead rather than review the past 12 months. In capital markets, our pick of 2005’s hot products includes Asian currency baskets and international bonds for emerging markets in their domestic currencies. Team of the month is BNP Paribas’ global risk solutions team for their ingenuity in coming up with a longevity bond to tackle pension fund problems; and Issuer strategy looks at Lloyd’s of London’s first ever bond.
Cash & securities services is also about crystal ball gazing, and it casts doubt on the future of large lift-out deals for custody banks, while in Technology the hot areas for 2005 are identified as managing supplier relationships and developments in electronic trading. Our Shaping Tomorrow columnist Chris Skinner takes a light-hearted look at automation and where it all might end up.
The Banker’s research department produced the intriguing Top 50 Fastest Growing Banks in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development transition countries, in which Kazakhstan’s Alliance Bank headed the list. ProCredit Bank of Bulgaria came out top in a breakout list of central European banks.
The Banker enjoys a long tradition – 79 years – of being a forum for debate and comment. This special Davos issue is no exception. In Viewpoint, Peter Peterson, chairman of The Blackstone Group and a member of the Republican Party, has some pretty harsh things to say about current US economic management.
In the Bracken column, Mohan Kaul, director general of the Commonwealth Business Council, looks at new initiatives to attract investment into Africa.
And our own editors explore the likely advent of a G4 to manage the global economy and the outlook for bank profits.
